There's a renewed push to stop the AIDS epidemic around the world.
Cities across the United States are joining the effort, but Dallas has not.
17,000 people living with HIV reside in Dallas County.
Advocates, like Evany Turk, say it's time for the city to get on board.
She was diagnosed with HIV 17 years ago and now works as an advocate for black women living with HIV.
"I wanted to make sure no one else had to go through what I went through," said Turk.
She can manage the virus with just one pill a day and derives hope from the fact that HIV is talked about more today than ever before, but she says there's still a long way to go to end the stigma and stop the aids epidemic.
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The Fast Track Cities initiative is an international campaign in which cities commit to doing what it takes to end the AIDS epidemic by the year 2030.
San Antonio and Austin joined the effort.
Dallas, which consistently tops the list of metropolitan areas with the highest HIV and AIDS infection rates, hasn't.
"Let's do what we can to improve the health of our communities," said Cece Cox, CEO of Resource Center, a Dallas organization that provides resources to the LGBTQ and HIV positive communities.
She says joining the Fast Track Cities initiative could be the first step towards creating a county run PrEP clinic.
"PrEP is a preventative protocol that also involves pharmaceutical drugs. It's proven to be 99 percent effective if you're on it and you take it correctly. It will prevent you from contracting HIV if you're exposed to it. The county doesn't run any PrEP clinics," said Cox.
She says the initiative could also help Dallas create more comprehensive sexual health programs for teens and young adults and break the stigma around getting tested for HIV.
"Across the US, in all the people with HIV, one in seven don't know they have it, so clearly one way we can improve public health is if people get tested and know their status," said Cox.
Turk says knowing is half the battle and and she won't stop fighting until the epidemic is over.
"As long as I can make some kind of impact in the world, then I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing," said Turk.
A Dallas County Health Department spokesperson told NBC 5 as of right now, there are no plans to join the imitative and could not give us an interview about the department's current HIV/AIDS program by the time of our broadcast.
All Planned Parenthood health centers offer PrEP/PEP medication and assistance with financial aid applications for those medications right now.
Planned Parenthood has 11 locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
According to Planned Parenthood, while men who have sex with men are at the highest risk for HIV exposure, one in every five new diagnosis is a woman.
Women should understand their risks for HIV exposure, and how PrEP/PEP medications may be critical tools that can also keep them safe.
